During Instituto Coreográfico 2012 while the dancers, choreographers and filmmakers were all busy living in the moment, Ballet Hispanico Artistic Director Eduardo Vilaro took some time to reflect on the Instituto’s legacy and trajectory.

Watch this video to learn more about the Instituto’s mission, the vision for its future, and its relevance in today’s society.

Right after graduating from Southern Methodist University, life quickly began to transitiion from university life to the real world! How exciting! I spent my beginning two weeks of the summer in NYC with Ballet Hispanico, taking part in the “Instituto Coreográfico” with choreographer George Cespedes…what a treat! Not only was this my first adventure with the company, who welcomed me with open arms, but it was also nothing short of inspirational and challenging. As artists we collaborated and pushed each other to new limits, workshopping a piece that was unique to our individual ideas. I felt very blessed to be able to come and work with my new company for a little bit before the season started, since I got a taste of what things would be like when I got back to NY..and of course I’m so thrilled to be back!

After NY the next week I went to Houston to teach at Red Door; I find such great pleasure in teaching and sharing with our youth. I learned just as much from them as they learned from me! Since Houston, I’ve been back home in Dallas, TX. With heat like this (over 100 degress everyday!!!) I of course spent much of my summer in the pool 🙂 This summer I have really come to enjoy hot yoga; after doing it day after day I feel like I HAVE to have it! I have fallen in love with everything that I get out of it: strength both mentally and physically, flexibilty, balance, and a sense of sweating it out and being cleansed, leaving with peace, positivity, and serenity. I’ve also kept busy with working out at the gym, making sure I kept up with my cardio and doing some light weight training. From moving out of my apartment in Dallas, to saying my “Good-Byes” and “See you laters” to friends and family, and trying to stay physically active this summer, I am definitely ready and excited to leave this Texas heat, for one :p; and of course embark upon my new journey in the Big Apple with Ballet Hispanico!

Having switched roles for a brief time to embody the shoes as choreographer is turning out to be an even greater pleasure than I expected. Day Two and one whole section of the work has been completed. However, I’ve yet to find a title….it’s just “Nicholas’s Dance”!

The dancers have brought themselves to the studio wholeheartedly, full of energy, and have been extremely helpful. Not knowing if I was going to be able to use everyone, I have come to the conclusion that each person should be showcased in this work. Having just recently been a Company member and performed in December at the New York season at The Joyce Theater, it was a concern that it would be hard not only for me to assume the position as leader, but also to have my colleagues see me as that person. Not one eye has flinched and not one vibe is different. It’s a work day as usual in Studio 10. The only difference is, it’s not my body being hammered to the ground, it’s my mind.

The artists consistently assimilate the new and foreign material being thrown at them and offer solutions to quickly solve seemingly insolvable issues, proving to me that we have a fabulous Company with even greater potential that I would never have been able to see had I never been given this chance to sit at the helm. I anticipate that the process will continue to flow as I am extremely inspired and motivated.

Wednesday approaches and I am joyful. It is not only a pleasure to see my work on such professionals but the supporting artistic team in studio with me namely Michelle Manzanales and Linda Kent prove invaluable.

They are both working very hard, sometimes through the night, to get their edits done. Already 5 edits have been put online, and today or tomorrow a 6th video will be posted.

So much has been happening in rehearsal, and so much was said during the panel meeting from last week. It’s not so easy to get the core message in a video, and not get side tracked by distracting details. And since these are video’s that document artistic process, meaning things change and adjust all the time, it’s not so easy to “find” the story. But by interviewing the choreographers and dancers stories are emerging, and it’s a joy to watch.

I’ve encourage both filmmakers to be creative and take risks shooting the material. Since in dance rehearsals, sequences get repeated all the time, one can take risks, because it’ll be done multiple times.
This results in much more interesting footage, and options to edit.